Earth & Beyond
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| Earth & Beyond | |
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| Developer(s) | Westwood Studios |
| Publisher(s) | Electronic Arts |
| Distributor(s) | Electronic Arts |
| Platform(s) | Windows |
| Release date(s) | September 24, 2002 |
| Genre(s) | MMORPG |
| Mode(s) | Multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Teen (13+) ELSPA: 11+ |
| Media | CD-ROM |
| System requirements | Pentium III CPU, 128MB RAM, Internet access, graphics card |
| Input methods | Keyboard, mouse |
Earth & Beyond is a science fiction massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed by Westwood Studios and published by Electronic Arts (EA). The game was released on September 24, 2002 in the United States. EA shut down Earth & Beyond on September 22, 2004. It was the last game by Westwood Studios.
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[edit] Story
Earth & Beyond is set some time around 2575 AD. It features three races: the Progen, Jenquai and Terran. The Progen are a genetically-altered and advanced race. The Jenquai are philosophers who seek eternal life. The Terrans are the original humans. Each of the three races is descended from the human race on Earth. The game's storyline takes place in the Milky Way Galaxy. The Progen, Terran and Jenquai are all uneasy of each other, but still manage to live together in peace. The Terrans are known for their extremely large corporations, such as Infiniti Corp. and GetCo. Infiniti Corp. is the manufacturer of the inter-system and inter-sector warp gates. The warp gates were originally created by the mysterious Ancients, an enigmatic and hyper-advanced race who have all but disappeared.
[edit] Gameplay
Each game server, or Universe, consists of 12 main star systems. Each system contains multiple sectors. Warp gates are used to travel from sector to sector, and system to system.
Players create a character by choosing one of the three races, and one of three professions: Warrior, Explorer or Trader.
Characters gain three types of experience. Combat experience is gained through fighting and completing combat jobs. Being incapacitated results in "EXP Debt" and the character only receives half of the normal experience, until the debt is repaid. Trade experience is gained from selling loot, by building items and by taking trade jobs. Exploration experience is gained by from visiting navigation points and exploration jobs. In general each system has a number of "nav points". Visiting a nav point for the first time gives a certain amount of exploration experience. After a nav point is visited, it appears on the "radar" when the player is in the system.
Player's ships are constructed from a reactor, shield and engine. Optionally, a ship may have have weapons or other devices which may buff or debuff other ships.
Ship equipment can be reverse-engineered, rebuilt and enhanced. Player-made weapons could have faster reload times, shorter cooldown, and faster firing rates. Player-made shields gave greater recharge speeds in combat, and offered higher capacities. Player-made engines allowed for faster than average warp travel, higher thrusting speeds, a tighter turning radius, and shorter spin-up and spin-down times for warp jumps. Ammunition for projectile and missile weapons could also be player made, producing higher damage ammunition.
There were several varieties of boss spawns: Some were activated after a certain number of lower level monsters were killed, while others were time-based. For example, the Crystal Daeva, which produced valuable loot, had a spawn time of 72 hours. Nearly all bosses carried valuable and rare loot, which could be sold for significant amounts of cash on the in-game market.
Some sectors had areas where "Invasions" were staged. Sectors like Aragoth Prime contained a heavily defended Red Dragon base that was surrounded by multiple layers of defense turrets, carriers, battle cruisers, and frigates. Invasions often involved a multitude of clans joined together to attack the base and a huge battle would ensue.
[edit] Character and Starship Creator
The Earth & Beyond Character and Starship Creator is a utility program that let potential players of Earth & Beyond create up to five characters that could later be imported into the full version of the game. It included three classes that had been unreleased in the full version.
[edit] Cancellation
EA announced in March 2004 that Earth & Beyond was to be discontinued the following September, stating that it would refocus on other projects. Earth & Beyond officially shut down on September 22, 2004.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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